A hotel fire in Paris over Thanksgiving weekend has left Professor Joseph Lepgold and his wife in critical condition. Lepgold’s ten-year-old son, Jordan, died on Monday as a result of his injuries. Details of the accident are still unknown and most of Lepgold’s colleagues and students have received information only through e-mail updates from Provost Dorothy Brown.
“Professor Joe Lepgold and his family met with a tragic accident over the Thanksgiving weekend while in Paris. Joe, his wife Nicki Dean . and their son Jordan were overcome by fire in the hotel in which they were staying,” Brown said in a broadcast e-mail to faculty sent out on Tuesday.
“I am so sorry to report that Jordan died of his injuries [Monday] afternoon,” Brown’s e-mail said.
All three were found in cardiac arrest after the Saturday morning fire in their hotel and were taken to an undisclosed hospital in Paris.
Lepgold holds a joint appointment in the School of Foreign Service and the Government department. He is chair of the Field Committee for International Politics major in the SFS. His wife Nicki worked in the Georgetown registrar’s offices for 10 years and received her master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown.
Lepgold was in Paris to present a lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at the Geneva Center for Security Policy and the American Center at Sciences Politique, a political science university in Paris, at a conference titled “America, Europe and the World in the 21st Century.” Professor Andrew Bennett said it was unusual that Lepgold’s family accompanied him on the trip. “Usually we don’t [take our families] because it’s only for a few days and we are always busy with work.” University Registrar John Q. Pierce said that since it was over the holiday break, Lepgold saw the excursion to Paris as “a chance for a special family trip.”
Lepgold’s classes this semester were handed over to other professors for the remainder of the term and his scheduled classes for next semester are being reassigned. “We have had to anticipate, given the conditions, that he won’t be ready to teach in the spring,” Bennett, who co-edited a book with Lepgold, said.
Professors George Shambaugh and Victor Cha have taken over his current classes, and Cha will likely take over Lepgold’s duties as mentors to SFS International Politics majors, according to Shambaugh. Bennett said the undergraduate International Relations course Lepgold was scheduled to teach in the spring has been divided – half the registered students will be added to Bennett’s section, the others will be taught by another adjunct professor. He said the undergraduate students registered for Lepgold’s courses would be notified by e-mail of the changes.
SFS Dean Robert L. Gallucci said his colleagues hold Lepgold in very high regard. “We are all, in the [SFS] and the university, struck by the magnitude of this tragedy. All of us who knew Joe respected him and knew him as a friend and colleague. We’re hoping and praying for a miraculous outcome,” Gallucci said.
Other professors also said their thoughts were with Lepgold and his family. “He is an extraordinarily gifted teacher, an active scholar and a leader in the department of foreign service. We all feel a very deep pain and void. We hope he recovers,” Government department chair Eusebio Mujal-Leon said.
Lepgold received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University in 1987 and has worked at Georgetown for 11 years. A leading expert in his field, his fifth book is scheduled for release before the end of the year and his work has been published internationally. He received the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service Award for Best Government Professor in 1997. Colleagues described him as hard working and dedicated to his family and profession.
Nikhil Patel (SFS ’01) took Lepgold’s International Relations Theory course last year and Lepgold is his thesis advisor this year. “He’s probably one of the most sincere professors I’ve ever had, passionate about his field and a dynamic thinker . he genuinely cares about both his class and his profession.”
Patel met Lepgold’s family on several occasions and of Jordan Lepgold he said, “He was a very bright kid – he had the same spark as his dad, very confident,” he said, “He had big dreams.” Pierce also described Jordan as bright, and said he enjoyed playing sports.
After working at Georgetown, Nicki became an analyst of Social Security disability policy. Her supervisor,Assistant Commissioner for Social Security Policy Mark Nadel, said that in her two years, she had already established herself as an integral part of the office community. “She is an outstanding analyst, one of those people who becomes the glue of an organization,” he said. “She is immensely popular and respected for her work,” he said.
The SFS Academic Council was in Red Square Wednesday afternoon with a condolence message poster for the Lepgold family to be signed by members of the Georgetown community. “We wanted to let Professor Lepgold and his family know that the Georgetown community is thinking about him,” said Stacey Tsai (SFS ’03), a representative on the academic council. She said approximately 100 people had signed the card.